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Homework assignments at Massachusetts' Ashland High School have been modernized, thanks to senior Ankit Kumar and junior Andrew Walter, who created the computer system called the Homework Beacon. Teachers at the school are starting to use a computerized system that allows them to upload assignments and other information, as well as move the due dates for various assignments and projects in real time. "The fact of the matter is student-teacher communication is stuck in the 20th century," Kumar told the Ashland school committee.

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Students in a math class at Seven Springs Middle School in Trinity, Fla., who need extra help with their homework can access help anywhere, anytime using YouTube. The six-minute videos created by their math teacher give students a step-by-step review of lessons, such as the metric system. "They explain everything we learn in class," student Kendra Schlatterer said, adding, "I usually watch them before we have a quiz to help me study."

A Minnesota high school has established a Twitter account where students and others can report abuse, following what school principal Lon Jorgenson describes as a series of "very negative and offensive student-student and student-teacher usage of social media." In a message to stakeholders announcing the Twitter page, Jorgenson called the events "a teachable moment for appropriate digital citizenship."

Roughly 75% of U.S. student-teaching programs are inadequate, according to a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Researchers rated the programs' against standards related to the quality of their student-teaching components and found that more attention is needed to ensuring high-quality guidance from supervising teachers. NCTQ has developed a system to rank education schools for U.S. News & World Report and those rankings will include the data on student-teaching programs. Critics of the report questioned its methodology.

The Teacher Leader Center at the University of Iowa College of Education is designed to teach student-teachers to use the latest technology-based classroom tools, from iPads to 3D-enabled SMART Boards and assistive technology. The technology training is part of the school's Teacher Leader program, which aims to prepare teachers to work in 21st century classrooms and enables them to specialize in one of three areas: technology, assessment or schools, culture and society.

Student-teaching in a real classroom is the only way to learn to be an effective teacher, according to an educator who is hosting a student-teacher for the first time this year. Sarah Henchey, a middle-school teacher, says she plans to use the experience to share her expertise and to learn from her student-teacher, particularly about new technology that could be used in the classroom.